Horrible Coil Whine! Need advice

S

SixFootDuo

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Oct 5, 2004
Messages
5,825
I just now discovered the problem I've been having off and on over the past 3 - 4 years, off and on. More on as of recently.

I've only owned 2 PSU's over the past 4 years. A Corsair AX850 and starting about 5 months ago, a new Corsair AX860i.

The problem of course is "Coil Whine" ....

It's getting worse and worse with my new Corsair AX860i. In fact, it's so bad I cannot even stomach playing a game because of the modulating buzz that comes out through the speakers as I play games like BF4 or Titanfall, and others. And as mentioned, it's getting worse.

Prior to this, I owned the Corsair AX850 and had a Coil Whine problem as well, but it wasn't nearly as bad. It would come and go and come and go only ever annoying me.

I know what to do, RMA ... but I dread having to deal with this.

I know I am not the only person having this problem. A quick search shows that there are an absolute ton of AX850 / AX860 owners having this issue.

What PSU are people buying that has zero coil whine?
 
Sounds like your sound card is picking up the whine interference. Have you tried a different sound card? I went through a few before getting a Z which now has zero whine from any components going to the speakers.
 
Yeah I've tried on-board audio, and two different high-end creative sound cards including the new Zx.

It's definitely the power supply. I can move the mouse around during any PC game and the modulation buzzing will change in tone / pitch. It's loud and makes my system unplayable. When I am not playing games, there is a faint mechanical buzzing sound ( coil whine ) that's present regardless of volume control. Meaning, it's always present even with volume set to zero. This is only tolerable as it's a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10.

I've been hitting up the forums hardcore all over the web and this problem is common for the type of PSU I own. Many people have had to continually RMA this PSU until they get one back that doesn't have coil whine.
 
A buzzy type of coil whine is probably from the power factor correction circuit, and I don't think there's any solution except replace the noisy APFC coil(s) or cover them with several coats of varnish (let dry between coats) or epoxy (slow cure stuff is better).
 
I was able to get Microcenter to price match an EVGA 1300 G2 for $229 so I jumped all over it. Jonny Guru have it a 9.7 score.

I'm sure I will be able to get $150 for my just 4 month old Corsair AX860I

How, the hard part ... re-routing the new PSU into my 900D.
 
There is goop you can put onto the coil that will stop it whining. Can't remember the name of the goop. Have used it before, comes in either dark grey or white. Rock solid after 1 hour once it's set in.
 
I got the same thing in my first Seasonic 860.

Got replaced and the second one is quiet as a mouse.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I went into Microcenter and told them about coil whine problem, this and that and none of them had really heard about it. And those guys are not the typical Best Buy retards. These guys know their stuff, make commission, $20 an hour on average and have been there for a long time. There's not much they haven't heard about, other than, apparently, coil whine.
 
so I'm just asking:

but the varnish thing... obviously warranty voiding so not asking about that.


but does anyone know if there are downside thermal management risks (coated parts running hotter...too hot?) and or off-gassing risks while the powersupply is in operation from the varnish?
 
atarione said:
so I'm just asking:

but the varnish thing... obviously warranty voiding so not asking about that.


but does anyone know if there are downside thermal management risks (coated parts running hotter...too hot?) and or off-gassing risks while the powersupply is in operation from the varnish?
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I can't think of any RMA center that is going to inspect the coils for it, doubt the heat dissipation loss has any effect.
 
The people we are renting this house from just had the electrical redone, new breaker box and new outlets in the living room, one of which, caused an older batter backup unit to get out a grounding error beep. Hrmmm ...

It's possible the one I've using is not properly grounded. I will go ahead and get this tester and check this myself.

Thanks so much for that information.
 
Look on Amazon for a ground loop isolator. It plugs inline with the 1/8" headphone jack. It should COMPLETELY remove all the noises in the speakers. It won't fix your power supply though obviously. I use one made by PAC on a set of powered Bluetooth speakers I made. Before I had horrible ground sounds.... Clicking popping electrical sounds even with nothing playing, now its dead silent and clean sound.
 
SixFootDuo said:
The people we are renting this house from just had the electrical redone, new breaker box and new outlets in the living room, one of which, caused an older batter backup unit to get out a grounding error beep. Hrmmm ...

It's possible the one I've using is not properly grounded. I will go ahead and get this tester and check this myself.

Thanks so much for that information.
Click to expand...

My house is from the 60's and only some rooms are grounded (Kitchen and garage only for the most part). I have no coil whine from any of my PSUs.
 
Hey would you mind listing what PSUs you've used? I can look up the OEMs on my own :p
 
WOW ..... yeah, I love this community. I went ahead and ordered the ground loop isolator from Amazon, 2 day prime for $12 I think, just installed it 5 mins ago ... all buzzing GONE ... crazy.

What made this maddening to me was that I am using $1,000 worth of speakers, XLR cables and sound hardware.

KRK Rokit G2 8's, KRK 10S Sub, Creative Zx and $60 in cables. 24bit 96khz Flacs never sounded so good.
 
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